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December 18, 2014 The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.6 percent in November to 105.5, following a 0.6 percent increase in October, and a 0.8 percent increase in September. “The increase in the LEI signals continued moderate growth through the winter season,” said Ken Goldstein, Economist at The Conference Board. ... Read more »

December 16, 2014 Following an upwardly revised rate last month, housing starts in November slipped 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.028 million units, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.  Three-month moving averages for total and single-family production were... Read more »

December 17, 2014 Anemic growth in worker compensation since the start of the decade has substantially strengthened the cost advantages of U.S. manufacturing against other mature economies, according to data on 34 countries released today by the International Labor Comparisons (ILC) progrm of The Conference Board.  In 2013 (the last year for which data is... Read more »

December 17, 2014 Half of Consumers Polled Will Wrap Up Christmas Shopping Online For millions of Americans the rush to find the perfect gift started early this year, and according to the National Retail Federation’s latest Holiday Consumer Spending Survey, the average holiday shopper has completed 52.9 percent of their shopping as of December 10,... Read more »

December 11, 2014 Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock cited the recovering U.S. economy as among the reasons why the company plans to focus more on market differentiation and omnichannel retailing. The company said it will outline these and other strategic priorities in a meeting with investors on December 11 in North Carolina. “We’re at a great... Read more »

December 10, 2014 The holiday season started strong at Costco where U.S. same store sales advanced 7 percent during the company’s first quarter ended November 23. Total company sales during the period increased 7 percent to nearly $26.3 billion from $24.5 billion.  Membership income grew slightly slower, advancing 6 percent to $582 million.  Same store... Read more »

December 15, 2014 Following a four-point uptick last month, builder confidence in the maket for newly built single-family homes fell one point in December to a level of 57 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. “Members in many markets across the country have seen their businesses improve... Read more »

December 9, 2014 The national level of customer satisfaction fell 0.7% in the third quarter of 2014 to 75.6 on a 100 point scale, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), pointing to weak spending growth for the fourth quarter.  This is the third consecutive quarterly decline in customer satisfaction for the country as... Read more »

December 11, 2014 Discounting throughout the month shifted consumer spending behavior Holiday shoppers took advantage of deep discounting and early sales to lift retail spending in November, the National Retail Federation said today.  Not including automobiles, gasoline stations or restaurants, retail sales increased 0.6 percent seasonally-adjusted over October and 3.2 percent unadjusted over November 2013. ... Read more »